In the End
by Erica Wattson
Summary: Only in the End of his life does Anakin Skwalker understand. My version of the end of Return of the Jedi. This story looks deeper into the conflict between Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker. Please read and review.


A/N I watched Revenge of the Sith in the theaters again last night, and I got this awesome inspiration for a story. This story is about Anakin Skywalker's last battle, and his transformation "into the Force". Of course, the Force is not real, I know that.

Disclaimer I do not own Star Wars, I'm just having a bit of fun. I got some of the lines out of the novelization of Return of the Jedi.

Erica Wattson

In the End

* * *

Now, Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith and apprentice to the powerful Darth Sidious, waited for his son to emerge from his hiding place in the deep shadows of the second Death Star. Indeed, this place seemed to be the darkest place in the galaxy. Emperor Palpatine, also known as the Great Darth Sidious seemed to be a beacon of darkness. The room itself was dimly lit with white light, but the only purpose that physical light was to cast a deeper shadow. 

In this dark place there was a strong presence of True Light, the light given by the Force, and even though the source was hidden in the shadows, the Emperor and Vader both knew the light shone strongly from Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker. The Emperor knew as Luke and Vader knew, the brightest light casts the darkest shadow, and Darth Sidious knew it was only a matter of time until Luke's light would give in to his shadow, and Luke himself would become a Sith.

On that Death Star, even in the heart of the darkness, in Lord Vader there was a elusive glimmer of real light, the True Light, given of the Force. This Light concealed itself in the shadows. The Dark had tried to exhaust the burning candle of love and hope, but not even the evil of Darth Vader could destroy all light. The Light of Anakin Skywalker still remained. Luke could feel it.

Vader listened to the Force, and through the blackness he could hear Luke's thoughts. Vader knew Luke was thinking of his friends, his friends on Endor. Luke feared that they would die. He felt the pain of the Ewoks, as even now many were falling at the hands of the Empire.

"Give yourself to the dark side Luke," Vader tempted, "it is the only way to save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you, son. Your feelings for them are strong, especially for--"

Suddenly, there was a disturbance in Luke's thoughts, Vader sensed it, and Luke tried to conceal it, but it was too late. Vader had read the thought, and he knew. Luke drew back, further into the shadows, he closed his eyes and tired to let the Force flow through him.

"Sister? So, you have a twin sister... Your feelings have betrayed her too!" Vader's words pierced through Luke's mind like cold iorn. Vader continued his loathsome speech.

"Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me, but now his failure is complete." Luke could sense that under his mask, Vader was smiling. Luke felt himself being consumed by the Dark Side of the Force. The beacon of light within him was slowly being choked out. It seemed that there was nothing left to fight for, but he fought anyway. With all his might he fought the darkness back.

"If you will not turn," Vader said slowly, "then perhaps she will!"

_NO!_ Luke's thoughts screamed. He couldn't possibly let this twisted machine of a man get to Leia, Luke would protect his sister! The sense of Justice, born of the Force rose up in Luke. The voices of a hundred thousand, at one with the Force cried out through the young Skywalker.

"NEVER!" He yelled. Lightsaber in hand he flew into battle. Such was the power of the Force Luke commanded that Darth Vader found himself drawing back, doing all he could to keep Luke from cutting him down.

Vader was losing the battle, but not only the battle against Luke. Inside his very being, the part of him that was still Anakin Skywalker cried out.

Luke beat Vader back with every blow of his lightsaber. Relentlessly Luke kept pushing Vader back. They now were on the bridge that crossed the vast seemingly bottomless pit to the power core of the Death Star.

Each pass of Luke's lightsaber was guided by the voices of the Force, and soon Vader was down on the ground, such was the power of Luke's lightsaber. Vader put his lightsaber up, trying to block Luke's next blow, but the green blade slashed right through his right hand, just above the wrist. But where there should have been cauterized flesh, there were sever wires, his hand had been a machine!

Luke drew back, and looked down at his own, black gloved hand, shocked at how much similar he was to Vader, the man he hated. The man who had killed the Jedi, who had suffocated liberty, killed Obi-Wan Kenobi... Luke felt a surge of hate, hate of himself, and hate of this... Thing... This thing that had once been a man, once been his father.

The Emperor stepped down a set of stairs, closer to Luke. As the emperor drew near, Luke could hear him laughing, and his laugh sounded pleased.

"Good..." Lord Sidious encouraged Luke, "Good! Kill him! Your hate has made you powerful! Now fulfill your destiny and take your place at your father's side!" Palpatine's voice sounded like the hiss of a snake, and Luke knew that was what the Emperor was, a vile snake.

Luke looked at his father beneath him, then at the Emperor, then back at Vader. Suddenly, Luke felt as if his eyes had been opened. He had already felt the darkness within Vader and the darkness within the Emperor, but now, he felt the darkness within himself. Now he knew.

He could give in to the darkness... Yes, he could, it would be so easy, his lightsaber was still activated, he could simply vanquish his father and overthrow the Emperor, then Luke would be the ruler of the galaxy! He heard a distant voice, a distant memory _"A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. Beware of the Dark Side!Anger, Fear, Aggression the dark side are they, easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever it will dominate your destiny. Consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice..." _The only way to overcome his own darkness was to renounce it, once and for all he would let go of his hate, his darkness.

Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin and Padme Skywalker stood tall and made his decision. He tossed his lightsaber away. He would not need it.

"Never! I will never turn to the Dark Side! You have failed, Emperor, I am a Jedi, as my father before me!"

Emperor's face turned sour with rage and hate "So be it, Jedi. If you will not turn, then you will be destroyed." Palpatine lifted his hands and extended them toward Luke. Cold lightning came from his fingers and they attacked Luke.

Luke tired to deflect the lightning, but it was too strong and the dark, mystical electricity surged through his body. Luke cried out in pain. Vader crawled over behind his Emperor like a wounded pet returning to it's master.

Soon, Luke was nearly unconscious from the pain and electricity flowing in his veins, but Sidious was unmerciful in his use of the Dark Side lightning. Luke almost wanted to give up, to allow himself to drift off into the oblivion of the Force, but he held onto life. He simply held on, unwilling to succumb to the Emperor's evil torture. With each passing second his life was being drained. He screamed out in pain.

The Emperor paused his lightning, making sure Luke could hear his taunts.

"Young fool!" Sidious accused Luke "Only now at the end do you understand..."

Sidious continued taunting Luke, but for Vader, time seemed to stop. The words _"Only now at the end do you understand..." _repeated over and over in his mind. To Vader, it wasn't Palpatine saying those words anymore, all he heard was Obi-Wan's voice. His thoughts brought him to a place where time stood still. Like a vision, like a dream.

_Inside the mask of Darth Vader, Anakin woke up. He found himself laying down in a meadow. Slowly he sat up. He felt a bug bite his leg. That surprised him. His body was whole, no machines were keeping him alive, he simply lived. His own lungs were breathing for him. His hands, his real human hands carefully removed the black mask encasing his face. _

_For the first time in years he felt a cool, soft breeze on his face. It was a dark, but warm night. The stars shone brightly in the night sky. His eyes rejoiced at the sight of the beautiful meadow. In a vision, a specter-like figure ran across the grass, right past where he stood. He recognized the figure as his wife Padme, but she did not seem to notice him, she just ran right past him._

_Anakin wondered what was going on, but he felt a twinge of guilt. Suddenly, Obi-Wan appeared before him._

_"Anakin..." Obi-Wan said. Anakin looked puzzled._

_"Master, why am I here?" Anakin asked, though he really was starting to realized he already knew the answer._

_"This is your last chance Anakin..." Obi-Wan looked down at his old apprentice with pity. "Only now at the end do you understand... Now do you understand, Anakin?" Obi-Wan said._

_"I understand, Master." Anakin replied. "Now I understand..." Anakin repeated. And he understood what he had done. He had betrayed the ones he had loved. He had hated, and now he was suffering. The Dark Side had taken over, Anakin had allowed it, he had invited it in. And only now, at the end did he really understand._

Suddenly, Anakin woke up, again, this time, he was back as things really were. He was trapped in the suit of Darth Vader, and Anakin had to fight to stay in control of himself, because the Dark Side of the Force, the Dark Side of himself, Darth Vader was still there. The conflict was still there, as it had always been, chewing away his life like a mouse at a block of cheese. He just stood there, not quite aware of what was going on, not quite knowing what to do.

"Father! Please!" Luke begged, his body being attacked by the Sith lightening. Anakin looked at his son, Vader looked at the Emperor. The conflict suddenly ended. The battle was over, Anakin Skywalker had won. Darth Vader was no more.

It was then that Anakin knew what he had to do. He knew it would break the machines keeping him alive, but it was the only way to save his son. Anakin Skywalker, conceived of the Force, son of Shmi Skywalker, Jedi Knight, husband of Padme Amidala, former Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi and father of Luke and Leia was finally ready to fulfill the prophecy and enter his destiny.

He picked up Darth Sidious, hands still spewing the sith lightening, and tossed him into the core pit.

The moment the Dark Lord died a great wind rose up the chasm. Anakin braced himself. The darkness that had been Palpatine was gone.

In that moment, the Light of the Force, the voices of the Jedi, past and present showed through Anakin Skywalker. The once elusive candle of good within him became brighter then the brightest star.

Anakin, still within the Darth Vader suit collapsed on the floor. Luke crawled over to his father's side, and pulled him away from the pit to safety. Both of them lay there on the floor, too weak to move, too moved to speak.

* * *

The Death Star rocked back and forth. There had been a collision with a Super Star destroyer, causing system breakdowns and reactor meltdowns and all around chaos. Smoke was everywhere. Sparks flew everywhere, and electrical fires. People were running around in circles, so confused and panicked, forgetting all Imperial training. 

The Emperor was dead. The central, powerful evil that had been the core of the Empire was dead. Without the Sith, the Empire, and the Dark Side was so undirected, this was simply where it led.

Confusion.

Desperation.

Fear.

Yet somehow in the midst of all the uproar, Luke had made it into the main docking bay. He was trying to carry the hulk of weight of his father's weak body toward a empty Imperial shuttle. He was almost there when his strength finally gave out, and he collapsed under the strain. Luke could not allow himself to give up, he slowly stood again and began dragging his father over to one of the last shuttles.

Luke rested his father on the ground, and tied to collect his strength for one last time. The Death Star was falling apart all around them. The ground was shaking, a wall buckled. Smoke poured out through a large crack in a nearby gap in the floor.

Anakin motioned for Luke to listen.

"Luke, help me take this mask off."

Luke shook his head. "You'll die."

Anakin's voice was weary. "Nothing can stop that now. Just once, let me look on you with my own eyes."

Luke nodded, but inside he was terrified, he was afraid to see the real, the true face of his father, the man who had turned so dark, so evil, the same man who had fathered Luke and Leia. He was afraid to know the real Anakin Skywalker. But Luke slowly lifted his father's mask anyway.

Anakin smiled at his son, for Luke was handsome, much like himself at that age. He could see a bit of Padme in his face too. His son, Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. In Luke's face he could see his wife's fire, in his face he could see the wisdom of Obi-Wan and Yoda. In Luke's eyes he could imagine the freedom of deep space, the ship he had piloted.

He felt free again, that mask that had confined him so long, for over twenty years was gone, Vader was gone, and soon, Anakin himself would be one with the Force. He remembered the moment that had sealed his fate of suffering. He remembered when his body had been on fire, when he had fallen into that lava, and it had burned him. Luke had pulled Anakin out of that lava.

The best moments of his life flashed before him in a vision, his forbidden wedding day, the smell of Padme's hair and the feel of her embrace. He remembered the day he had completed his training, and granted the rank of Jedi Knight. The day he came home to Corasaunt after the Outer Rim Sieges, and Padme telling him of their child. He remembered the love, the light and the happiness.

Then he remembered the worst times in his life, the days he had spent as a slave, the night he had slaughtered a entire tribe of sand people. When he murdered Count Dooku. The night he had turned to the Dark Side, murdered Jedi and younglings. The greed, the hate and despair.

All the hate, sadness and greed over now, because Luke, his son, Luke had pulled him out of the lava.

He felt something wet fall on his face. Luke was crying over him.

Anakin remembered his first days as a Jedi padawan, searching for something to comfort his son. He remembered something Yoda had told him, so long, long ago.

"Luminous beings we are, Luke, not this crude matter." Anakin said at last, tying to make his son see that he wasn't really as ugly as he must appear.

Luke shook his head, trying to dismiss his father's shame, he wanted to tell his father that it didn't matter, but no words would come out. Anakin spoke again, his voice weaker this time., so quiet Luke could almost not hear him.

"Go now my son. Leave me." Anakin smiled. Luke found his voice again.

"No. you're coming with me. I'll not leave you here, I've got to save you."

"You already have, Luke." He whispered.

"i won't leave you." Luke insisted. More explosions sounded behind them.

"Luke, you were right.. and you were right about me... tell your sister... you were right." Anakin gasped for one last breath, he closed his eyes and smiled.

His destiny was fulfilled. He had destroyed the Sith and the Force was balanced. Anakin Skywalker drifted off into the peace and life that is the Force.

* * *

A/N 

I may write another chapter(s) about what happens after Anakin joins the Force, but we'll see. Please review and tell me what you thought.


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